Support, Concerns Remain For Superior-Area Pipeline Expansion

Some environmental groups are speaking out about the decision of Twin Ports mayors to support a proposed expansion of pipelines carrying tar sands and shale oil from Canada and North Dakota to Superior, Wis.

The expansion would be oil company Enbridge Energy’s largest pipeline project ever, and help the company nearly double the capacity of several different lines.

Superior Mayor Bruce Hagen said he stands by the project and Enbridge’s investment in the area.

“They’ve been around a long time, they’re environmentally sound as far as we’re concerned … and they’re also a large contributor to the welfare of the community,” Hagen said, calling the employment opportunities with Enbridge, “very high, valuable jobs.”

Furthermore, Hagen said he was confident that the pipelines were the best way to deal with an inevitable need to transport oil from the booming shale and tar sands operations to the north and west.

“Pipelines are generally the best, cheapest way to transport this product with the least amount of disruption,” he said.

But Andrew Slade, Northeast Minnesota program coordinator for the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, said that while his organization hasn't taken a position on the expansion, the project still raises concerns about water and air quality.

Not only do leaks continue to occur in pipelines, creating a risk to rivers and lakes, he said, but shipping the oil means it will be burned and eventually contribute to air pollution.

“Tar sands oil is a notoriously dirty source of oil,” Slade said. “This will have a direct impact on carbon dioxide and global warning.”

Slade said that with the boom of the demand to ship oil to the south and east for processing and sale, it was important that no one community become a “weak link” in the line of transportation.

“In a sense, it’s up to citizens and residents of all those communities and watersheds … to raise awareness of the issue,” he said. “Each of these communities has a responsibility to raise the same level of questions and the same level of standards so one doesn’t become the easiest way to get through.”

In the meantime, he said, his hope was for more federal protections and quality standards for pipelines such as Enbridge’s, and the assurance that there can be adequate response to clean up any leaks or spills.

“For Minnesota, this project is all risk and no reward,” he said. “But, we can ensure first responders and high safety standards are enforced.”

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